


Lone Wolf

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 18:22:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20440433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Based on a request: “Chekhov X reader Reader is really lonely and is one of the youngest crew members. Chekhov takes it upon himself to make you feel welcome?”





	Lone Wolf

You weren’t meant to hear it. The Lieutenants probably didn’t even know you were still in the engineering bay. Alpha shift ended more than two hours ago. You were supposed to be video calling your parents, but you’d wanted to finish up today’s assignment, hoping Scotty would let you move past fixing broken replicators and phasers soon. You were sitting cross-legged on his couch, hunched over a phaser when you heard them.

“The new girl’s weird, don’t you think,” one of them said.

“Bitchy for sure. Doesn’t talk to anyone but Scotty.”

“Probably just kissing ass.”

“He’s probably pissed he has to babysit her.”

“Honestly, she’s so weird. Have you seen that she always sits alone in the mess hall?”

The rest of their conversation faded out of your hearing as they walked away. You tried to focus on the metal of the phaser under your fingertips, on the hum of the engine as she purred, on anything except the sound of the lieutenant’s voice saying weird weird weird.

It’s not that you weren’t used to eating alone. You’d always been something of a lone wolf. Your parents both worked, which meant you’d grown independent at a very young age. Not to mention your almost genius-level IQ had you soaring through school. It was worse in high school. No self-respecting senior wanted to be seen with a 12 year old, so you missed out on a lot of the high school experience. No one asked you to the winter formal or invited you to parties. You’d been asked to prom once, but it turned out to be a joke, and you cried for a week. You found it difficult to trust people after that, preferring to keep to yourself.

You thought it would be easier when you got into Starfleet. They were eager to have you work on their Engineering track after your robotics work in high school that they gave you a full ride at only 13 years old. None of the cadets wanted anything to do with you. They either thought you were too young to be good at your job or that you were some kid they had to babysit. A lot of them were angry that you were top of the class when you were half their age.

Your parents tried to be supportive. They had hoped you’d follow in one of their paths as a lawyer or a doctor, but they were happy to see their child succeeding. They were the only really friends you had, and flying half a country away to San Francisco was hard enough. Now you were light years away, only able to see them through video chat. What you wouldn’t give to have your mother hold you in her arms right now. Maybe I should leave Starfleet, you thought glumly.

You started taking your meals in Observation Bay C. You’d hacked into security footage, and this one always seemed to be empty, so you figured it would be a safe bet. A lot of people found the black emptiness of space terrifying and isolating, but you found it comforting. The universe was a huge place and you were just one small part of it. Surely someone else out there was eating alone staring out their window, wishing on passing stars that a friend would come by.

Your communicator pinged, and a feeling of dread weighed you down. You were late coming back from lunch break., so would be Scotty. It had been hard finding the motivation to go to work after the lieutenants’ stray conversation sucked all the passion out of you. You were even antsy around Scotty, now, constantly worried that you were annoying him. Your fears seemed to be well-founded when you read his message. “Come to my office.”

You thought about not going and checking into Medbay instead, but the thought of sitting under the harsh lights getting questioned about your fake symptoms was enough to make you feel faint. You stood instead, knowing it was better to face this problem head-on. I am not a kid, you repeated to yourself on the way to Scotty’s office. I’m not weird. They’re just upset that I’m better at my job than they are.

It took you longer than normal to get to engineering, and when you finally knocked on the door to Scotty’s office your hands were shaking. You heard him call for you to come in and you wiped your palms on your uniform. “You wanted to see me?”

“Aye, lass, I have a report I need you to give Jim.” Scotty rifled through several PADDs on his disk before picking one up and holding it out to you. “Christ, Y/N, are you alright? You’re looking a wee bit pale.”

“I’m fine,” you said, grabbing the PADD quickly, trying to edge out of the office before he asked more questions. Scotty stopped you, though, blocking your path to the exit.

“Have you been eating? Haven’t seen you in the Mess in a few days.”

“Been eating here,” you lied. Scotty furrowed his brow.

“No sense eating here. Join me in the Mess tonight. My treat,” he winked. You smiled weakly, hoping it would be enough. Still, Scotty didn’t move. When he spoke again his voice was softer. “Are you sure you’re all right? I know the lieutenants aren’t always welcoming to new Ensigns, especially not ones as young and bright as you. I could talk to them if-”

“No,” you blurted out too loudly. “No, it’s not that. I just miss home is all.” You could tell Scotty wasn’t convinced, but he moved to let you pass, putting a hand on your shoulder as you did.

“You can talk to me about it if you want, lass. Everyone needs a friend now and again, especially up here.”

You clenched your jaw, hoping Scotty wouldn’t notice how misty your eyes were. “Thank you” was all you managed to get out before your voice cracked and you rushed off to the bridge.

You calmed yourself down enough in the turbolift that there was only the faintest of tremors left in your hands. You knew Jim was probably the friendliest captain in the whole fleet, but you still felt a little star struck meeting him in person for the first time. Your nerves melted away completely as the two of you started talking and found out you were both from the same part of Iowa.

“Must be something in the corn, then,” Jim joked. “Keeps growing all these geniuses.” He winked, handing back the signed report. “Chekov, why don’t you escort Y/N back down to Engineering?”

“It’s fine, Captain. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Jim, please,” he started, “and I didn’t say you did, but Mr. Chekov has been wanting to learn more about engineering and I think you’re the perfect person to teach him. Plus, you’re a lot easier on the eyes than Scotty. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant?”

Chekov was blushing almost as much as you when he stood from his console. “Yes, keptain. She is.” You blushed even more furiously as you caught his eye, immediately enamored with his shy grin and soft brown curls.

The silence in the turbolift was tense but not uncomfortable. You saw Chekov glance at you a few times, opening his mouth to speak but not quite knowing what to say. You couldn’t help but gaze at him, too. The few times your eyes met you both looked away, blushing furiously. “You’re from Eastern Europe, right? Ukraine?”

“Russia,” Chekov responded. You hummed back at him, trying to think of something to say. No one had ever taught you how to flirt. Chekov peered over at you again, turning his head when you looked at him. He closed and opened his fists as he walked. You fiddled with the PADD in your hands. He opened his mouth again but closed it without saying anything, and it finally got on your nerves and you stopped in the middle of the hall, getting annoyed glares from several other people trying to navigate the ship.

“Just ask me,” you said. Chekov looked taken aback. “I can tell you want to ask me something. You want to know how old I am, right? Don’t think I’m old enough to do my job?”

“No, no. It’s not zat, Y/N. I…I vanted to,” he flushed a deep crimson, making a wild gesture with his hand, “you know I vanted to ask you to have dinner vith me. I know it is hard to make friends on zis ship, especially so young. I vas only seventeen vhen I joined, too, so I-I know vhat it’s like-”

“Chekov,” you said, placing a hand gently on his arm.

“Please, call me Pavel.”

“I’d love to have dinner with you, Pavel,” you smiled. His entire body seemed to light up, and he talked even more frantically than before. His smile was so genuine and infectious, your own mood began to brighten as the two of you talked back and forth about power couplings and transwarp physics.

Pavel didn’t leave your side the rest of your shift. You eagerly showed him around the engineering bay, ecstatic to have some company while you worked. Chekov was just as excited to have someone his own age to talk to. He was a lot more outgoing than you and had an easier time making friends, but few of them had the same life experience.

“It vas hard being so young, especially vhen I first joined. It feels like no one listens to you, no one thinks you can do your job.”

“I know the feeling,” you said glumly.

“But you - you’re amazing, Y/N. I’ve never seen someone strip a vire zat fast! Not even Mr. Scotty. You are замечательно…erm, wonderful!” A blush crept onto Pavel’s cheeks again. You quickly looked away, fighting against the tightness in your throat and the voice in your head that said he was lying. Pavel’s smile quickly fell. “Did I say somesing wrong, Y/N. I am sorry if I did I-”

“You called me wonderful,” you said with a laugh. “I don’t remember the last time someone did that.”

Chekov put his hands on your shoulders, turning you gently to face him. He slipped a hand under your jaw and tilted your head up. You didn’t realize how green his eyes were until now. “But lapushka, you are wonderful. You are smart and brave to come all ze way out into space.”

“I’m not.” You pulled away from Chekov. He was quick to wrap an arm around your waist, pulling you back against his chest. He cradled you against him, resting his chin on your shoulder.

“You are incredible, Y/N. I don’t know how to make you see zat, but I do know that, even zo I’ve known you only a day, you’ve made me feel much less lonely here.”

You turned around in Chekov’s arms, meeting his gaze again. A smile graced his already angelic features, and he reached up to brush a strand of hair from your face. His fingers ghosted down your cheek, ending on your chin. He leaned towards you, eyes dropping to your lips, before he pulled back.

“I’m sorry,” he stumbled, “I am not used to zis. I do not vish to go too fast for -” You cut him off by pulling him down into a kiss. Chekov dropped hands to your waist, pulling you closer to him. You wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tangling your hand through his curls.

“Aye, lassie, we still on for dinner,” Scotty asked, coming to a stop when he caught sight of you and Chekov. You buried your face in Chekov’s chest, hoping to hide how red your cheeks were. Chekov beamed at Scotty, still in a daze. “I’ll take that as a no then,” Scotty said, leaving you wrapped in Chekov’s arms, feeling warm for the first time since the Enterprise left its dock.

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
